Farewell, fine mustaches

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have been crying our eyes out all day knowing that two of our best tax hikers are hours away from having their public careers forcibly ended.  Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan and Jim Sumner will no longer be Blue Ash Councilmen as of midnight tonight.  Sumner was defeated in a landslide and Bryan lost to a dude named Pramod Jhaveri. 

These are two of the finest mustaches you'll ever see.  They will be greatly missed.  This is a sad day, but at least we can suffer it together as one big tax-hiking community.  Let's think of the good times.

Tell us, what are some of your favorite Rick Bryan and Jim Sumner moments. Was it their excellent tax increases?  Their support for tax-and-spend candidates?  Their arrogance that grew larger each year?

Share your thoughts with the community.  And join us for..........The Final Countdown.

Rick Bryan and Jim Sumner defeated

Dear fellow tax hikers, what the hell just happened?  We thought tonight was going to be great.  Royal Doyle Webster was re-elected (for the 20th time) as he zooms in on Strom Thurmond's record in elected office.  And we were ready to raise some taxes and smoke dope. 

Then we got smacked in the head with a piano falling from the sky.  We lost one of our greatest friends ever, Blue Ash Councilman Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan.  Even worse, his fellow mustache Jim Sumner was also defeated.  And we're just too hurt to say anything about the defeat of the Cincinnati Parks Tax. 

How did Ricky and Jim lose to a couple newbies who barely campaigned?  We are so distraught by these defeats that we will be spending the rest of the night listening to the new Justin Bieber CD.  But if all you tax hikers need a safe space to comfort each other, please open up and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Blue Ash Council subsidizes their golf course

Dear fellow tax hikers, we hope all of our Blue Ash readers are happy this week.  If not, they will be after learning that their tax dollars are subsidizing the Blue Ash Golf Course to the tune of $220,000 per year. 

We fully endorse this generous subsidy.  With golf now being dominated by the impoverished, it would not be fair to expect golf hobbyists to pay for their own rounds.  Blue Ash taxpayers need to subsidize the hordes of lower income folks who flock to the golf course for their Friday afternoon tee times. 

We are glad to see Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan, Jack Buckman, and Blue Ash Council looking out for the lower income golfers just as they look out for themselves.  The Blue Ash Golf Course needs this tax money.  The police, fire, sidewalks, and neighborhoods don't.  If Blue Ash voters continue re-electing the likes of Rick Bryan, Jim Sumner, and Marc Sirkin, they can rest easy knowing that their tax dollars will continue to subsidize the golf course along with the European Vacations of their Councilmen.

Mark Painter - 2014's Political Loser of the Year

Mark Painter - probably not the one on the left

Dear fellow tax hikers, after reviewing the exhaustive list of contenders we proudly name former Judge Mark Painter as our biggest loser of 2014.  Currently an employee of Democratic Chairman Tim Burke, Mark had to overcome fierce competition to win this most honorable award.

Marky Mark had a year he'd like to forget.  First he donated $1000 to our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan in his failed campaign for 28th District State Representative.  Just two days after Ricky's shocking defeat to the evil conservative Jonathan Dever, Mark gave another $500 to Dever's next opponent Micah Kamrass. 

That gave His Honor the rare distinction of losing the 28th District twice in six months. 

Painter's futility didn't stop there.  Marky Mark joined with those who believed that Hamilton County must raise its Sales Tax for up to 14 years to renovate BOTH Union Terminal and City Hall (each owned by City of Cincinnati), and that no other option was acceptable.  After the Commissioners voted to include only Union Terminal, Mark sent a legendary temper tantrum editorial to the Enquirer bashing the plan and thrashing our terrible Commissioners.

After Mark's denunciations, that TERRIBLE plan passed with 60% of the vote and that TERRIBLE, awful Monzel was re-elected with 57% in a 3-way race.  This was truly not His Honor's year to shine.

With so much great competition, we also feel compelled to give an Honorable Mention to those who earned it.

No comment

Campaign Expert PhD Julie Matheny.  C.E. Matheny's legendary losing streak makes her an annual contender for this award.  She is another one who lost the 28th District twice in 6 months, AND this great "Republican" supported Connie Pillich.  These three fine individuals did as well as every other candidate she has supported over the years. 

Peter Stautberg.  An incumbent State Representative with a significant spending advantage, who gets punked in his own primary by a guy he beat by 20 points just two years ago.  Enough said.

Cincinnati Enquirer Editorial Board.  They demanded higher taxes for Music Hall.  They loved Charlie Winburn and Connie Pillich.  They really, really wanted us to vote for Micah Kamrass.  But the voters rejected their endorsements, with more than the usual enthusiasm. 

Charlie Luken.  Great name ID in a race where name ID is everything? Check.  Access to big money? Check.  A current law license?  Check (just barely).  With all this, he still lost, and by a surprisingly big margin, to a guy who has never run for anything except judge.  Have a drink on us Charlie.  Oh what the hell, we're good for a full round. 

Blue Ash City Councilmen.  Remember the kids from the neighborhood where you grew up who would take their ball and go home whenever things didn't go their way?  Now they serve on Blue Ash City Council. 

The year started so promising for them.  Rick Bryan was going to save the 28th District for the Republicans, they told us.  Republicans needed to be unified, they told us.  Republicans needed to support the winner of the primary, they told us.  Micah Kamrass was a potential future statewide candidate who needed to be stopped, they told us. 

But when Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan lost his primary, all that went out the window.  The voters didn't respect their greatness, so the Councilmen took their ball and defected to Team Kamrass.  Dever won by 12 points anyways. 

These poor Council Members lost a very winnable race.  The nature of the loss demonstrated that every single Blue Ash Councilman is unelectable outside Blue Ash.  They lost their respect from local GOP, and the Democrats would still throw them under the bus at the first opportunity.   This was a most terrible year for these fine Members of Council. 

Kamrass Kampaign Slumber Party

Dear fellow tax hikers, tonight we will do something a little different by live blogging from the prestigious Kamrass campaign sleepover that we were graciously invited to attend.  This is our dream come true!  As the night gets started:

Itinerary:

9:00 pm - Start arriving for the sleepover. Each person must bring 3 stolen Dever signs
10:00 - Melrose Place marathon!  Free diet soda will be served
12:00 - Change Doyle Webster's royal diaper
12:15 - Watch Justin Bieber concert; double back over the Bieb's shirtless set
1:30 - While pretending to be a Dever supporter, prank call Rick Bryan and put it on speakerphone to hear Ricky's meltdown
1:35 - Debate which boy from One Direction is the cutest
2:00 - Discuss Micah's career successes
2:01 - Plan the next ceremony to honor Voting Rights Hero Melowese Richardson
2:30 - Write thank you notes to Kamrass donors Stan Chesley and Jerry Springer
3:00 - Clean up the mess Walt Reuszer made in his sleeping bag
5:15 - Hold hands while signing along to a special hit from One Direction
11:30 am - get up early for some door-to-door

Blue Ash honors Sister City Comrades

Dear fellow tax hikers, Blue Ash's Sister City compatriots from Ilmenau, Germany are visiting us next week and we have all been invited to meet them!  On Monday September 29th at 6:00 PM Blue Ash is hosting a public cookout to meet our German guests, and their Councilmen have personally asked us to help drive turnout. 

The Blue Ash Sister City Program is extremely important to us.  Our exclusive report on the $120,000 Blue Ash spent in just 5 years to send Blue Ash Councilmen and their friends on taxpayer-funded junkets to Germany brought lots of new readers to this site.  And, we believe it's a fantastic program and great use of taxpayer funds.

We are greatly looking forward to this cookout.  We just wish it was being held in the $75 million park.

Dever defeats Mr. Purity Rick Bryan

Dear fellow tax hikers, the Hamilton County Board of Elections released the official results of the 2014 primaries, and sadly the news is just as bad as it was on election night.  Jonathan Dever officially defeated our very own Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan by 66 votes.

66 stinkin' votes.  Should have just added another 6.

Ricky responded to his defeat by stating: "It was a year that we were done in by low voter turnout and a strong negative campaign."

First of all, we strongly condemn anyone who ran a negative campaign against our Ricky Baby.  We feel so bad for Rick, the Paragon of Virtue and Keeper of All Things Good and Right.  His campaign was as pure as the winter snow.  Rick absolutely did not:

- criticize one of his opponents for not living in the district for each of the last 75 years
- condemn one of his opponents because his bank neglected to pay the insurance premiums he sent them
- refer to streetcar opponents as "bullies"
- claim one of his opponents didn't have a campaign treasurer from the 28th District (note: the address listed for Rick Bryan's campaign is in Peter Stautberg's Tom Brinkman's district)
- criticize both of his opponents for lacking his experience

No, NONE of that happened, because Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan said he ran a fully positive campaign.

Ricky Baby says he ran a positive campaign based on his qualifications and experience.  And no doubt, he had the best of both.

Nobody has more experience raising taxes than Rick Bryan.  Nobody is more qualified to spend money on a $75 million park than Rick Bryan.  And nobody has done more to pay for Blue Ash Council's taxpayer-funded junkets to Germany than Rick Bryan.  We are disgusted that such a positive and pure big government Republican like Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan could lose his election by a mere 66 votes. 

Overconfidence

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are still recovering from the unexpected victory of Jonathan Dever over our very own Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan.  For once we can't criticize ourselves for being complacent in defeat.  This year we worked very hard for Rick and made him our #1 targeted race.  We learned our lessons about being overconfident from some of our prior defeats.

But many of our supporters haven't.  Many of the Bryan supporters here assured us we had this race in the bag.  They said Dever had no chance, and may have even quit the race early.  We were also told Dever didn't raise enough money, couldn't solidify conservative support, and had an inadequate campaign team who surely could not win under such difficult circumstances. 

For your benefit, we have found some of the better premature declarations of victory from the Bryan supporters:

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Blue Ash Bomber said...
Just did the work the Enquirer refused to do and checked out the campaign finance report on Secretary of State Jon Husted's website. Folks, this race isn't even going to be close. Rick Bryan has a commanding lead in fund-raising and in cash on hand. Rick also has a commanding lead in endorsements and a significant lead in supporters among the rank and file across the district. That's the kind of network of support you can develop over years of fostering positive working relationships with businesses, elected officials, and community leaders, when you happen to be a businessman, elected official and community leader like Rick Bryan is.

Dever is just gumming up the works and pandering to the Tea Party base that has lost all credibility in the 28th House District. Go back to West Chester, Jonathan.


Wreck of the Jonathan Dever said...
Just like the Democrats' nominee for Governor, Shipwreck Edward FitzGerald, Jonathan Dever had to include his January 2014 contributions on his latest campaign finance report to make his numbers look less horrible than they truly are. Just like Ed, Dever's January contributions were surprisingly large and surprisingly close to the end of the month, a sure sign of desperation by Team Dever. I guess that move into the 28th House District and those "professional" consultants took a lot out of Jonathan during crucial fund-raising periods.


COAST is TOAST said...
Even some tea-partiers like Maggi Cook are supporting Rick Bryan. You know you're a real kook when ever the Tea-bangers can't support you. Down With Dever!


Keep It Coming said...
We love the outpouring of support for Rick Bryan on this blog. It's awesome. Rick has raised more money from more people than his opponent. Rick has far more endorsements than his opponent. His opponent should just drop out now, save everyone's time and money, and get our party united behind Rick Bryan.


Columbus Confidential said...
You Dever people are the absolute laughingstocks of the Republican Party right now. Please do us all a favor and get out of the race before you embarrass yourself and your political party any more so than you already have done.


Lifelong Loyal Hamilton County Republican said...
I don't think WLW is taking the candidacy of Rick's primary opponent very seriously, and when WLW can't take a "Republican" very seriously, then he or she has no chance of winning whatsoever.


Madeira Voter said...
I heard Rick Bryan was running unopposed.


Dever Believer said...
I had high hopes for Jonathan but it's clear he doesn't have the juice to make this race even close. His campaign looks less like a Jamie Schwartz job and more like a Julie Matheny job.


Desperate and Defeated Dever said...
I had big hopes for Jonathan Dever, but those hopes are long gone now. What a waste of a candidacy. I guess the 28th House District really loves paying more in taxes because the candidate of lower taxes has found virtually no traction.


Eric Dorman said...
If it wasn't for this website I wouldn't have known anyone was running against Rick Bryan.


Mimes for Dever said...
Jonathan must be running one of those "quiet" campaigns where you go around and somehow reach all the voters without any signs, handouts, mailers, radio or television commercials.


Relax My Friend said...
All conservatives have NOT, repeat NOT, coalesced around Jonathan Dever. In fact, quite a few of us began to think he had suspended his campaign, given the lack of activity. What a disappointing race.


Dever Fever said...
It takes a special kind of paranoia for this blog to believe that Jonathan Dever has run a viable campaign which has even a snowball's chance of winning against Rick Bryan.


Psychiatrist said...
This blog has an unhealthy obsession with the idea that the Dever campaign is something to fear. I get that you could be concerned about losing... if your opponent were running a strong campaign. However, the Dever team clearly is not.


Relax My Friend said...
These campaign finance reports overlook that Jonathan still has to pay his "consultant" Jamie Schwartz for some more "consulting" work like creating that juvenile and offensive attack ad. Ya!

Stunning defeat

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are devastated by the unexpected loss of our Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan to that Jonathan Dever guy.  We are so distraught by this defeat that if any of us had jobs, we would have had to stay home today. 

How did we lose this race?  We were up in the polls.  We raised more money.  Ricky Baby raised the taxes, jacked up the spending, and took his share of German junkets at taxpayer expense that entitled him to this seat.  We even tricked our enemies at COAST to send a last-minute mailer advertising some of the best tax hikes from our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year.

We were assured by our expert commentators that Ricky had this in the bag.  They told us Dever had no support, except for his inner campaign team, who were all idiots.  Some even said Dever had quit the race.  We lost to that?

This represents another failure of our movement.  It represents a failure to properly communicate our tax-and-spend message.  It represents a failure of the voters to learn who the great tax hikers are and support their campaign. 

And perhaps worst of all, this defeat represents a failure of Mustache Power when we needed it the most.

We now turn this discussion over to our loyal readers.  Tell us, why did Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan blow his lead to lose the race? 

Top 10 Reasons to Support Rick Bryan

Dear fellow tax hikers, with Election Day less than 36 hours away we are calling on you to give everything you have to nominate Rick Bryan for State Representative.  Rick is the epitome of what our movement stands for.  He has raised so many taxes, jacked up spending so high, and taken so many taxpayer-funded vacations that we can't think of anyone who better represents our tax-and-spend beliefs. 

His opponent, conservative Jonathan Dever, must be stopped.  Dever is running on a conservative platform of cutting taxes and cutting government spending.  He opposes the Cincinnati streetcar and supports the right of disabled children to keep their service animals. 

In addition, Dever is far too young for this position.  Dever is barely over age 40, which makes him at least 35 years younger than the average Rick Bryan supporter.

Ricky Bryan has compiled a fantastic record of increasing taxes and raising the roof on government spending.  This is why we were enormously proud to name him our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year. 

With that, we present our Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Rick Bryan:

1) Raised Earnings Taxes 25%
2) Endorsed a huge Democratic Sales Tax hike
3) Voted to build a $75 million park
4) Helped fund the Cincinnati streetcar
5) Spent $120,200 in 5 years on taxpayer-funded junkets to Germany
6) Took away a service animal from a disabled child
7) More than doubled the hotel-motel tax
8) Paid a band to not perform
9) Praised Bob Bedinghaus' handling of the stadiums
10) World's Greatest Mustache!

Now it's your turn.  Why are YOU supporting Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan? 

New Rick Bryan Campaign Theme Song

Dear fellow tax hikers, in light of the recent discovery that Rick Bryan and his friends have been taking taxpayer-funded German Junkets courtesy of Blue Ash taxpayers, we believe it is time to change the theme song for the Rick Bryan for State Representative campaign.  We are very, very proud of High Flyin' Rick Bryan and his Council Comrades for consuming over $200,000 of Blue Ash taxpayer funds so that they vacation in style.

We were previously using the song from Mr. Ed as the Bryan campaign theme song, in honor of Ricky Baby's work to force a disabled girl to give up her service miniature horse.  But that's old news, as thanks to Ricky's great work the handicapped in Blue Ash have learned their place.

With that, to honor High Flyin' Rick Bryan's European Vacations, we introduce to you the new Rick Bryan campaign theme song.  We think you're going to love it.  And Clark W. Griswold will too.

Breaking: Rick Bryan's taxpayer-funded vacations

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are just learning that our man Rick Bryan and Blue Ash City Council have spent over $200,000 of Blue Ash taxpayer funds sending Rick and his Council Comrades on junkets to Germany.  You see, Blue Ash has a "Sister City" program with Ilmenau, Germany, a small city hours away from anything - well, except great German beer.

Every year or two, Blue Ash sends approximately 15 people (Council members and their closest friends) on a delegation vacation to Ilmenau, subsidized by YOUR tax dollars.  For example, High Flyin' Rick Bryan, Jack Buckman, and Blue Ash Council spent $120,200 of Blue Ash tax money from just 2008-2012 on these German junkets, and this program started back in 2002.  Council sends the money to the Blue Ash Sister City, Inc, (funded 99% from Blue Ash taxpayers, and housed in the Blue Ash Municipal Building), who then subsidizes the big vacations.

For the record, we strongly support this program and the $200,000 (and counting) spent on it.  We repudiate the Jonathan Dever campaign for their video making fun of these expenditures:





When High Flyin' Rick Bryan gets a chance to go, he doesn't have to be asked twice.

Here's Rick enjoying the 2002 vacation:

High Flyin' Rick Bryan in 2005:

High Flyin' Rick Bryan in an undetermined year:

Rick was obviously headed to a very important business meeting.

He's been there so often he's acquired the nickname of "Ricky Baby" by his good German friends, who no doubt appreciate the infusion of Blue Ash taxpayer funds into the Ilmenau economy. 

Oh, and did we note this "Sister City" program was created under....... Former Mayor Rick Bryan!  We believe this is a perfectly appropriate use of over $200,000 of your tax money.  If we can get Rick to Columbus, he can use his great leadership to create Sister City Vacation Funds all over Ohio!  Until then, enjoy the taxpayer-funded vacations Ricky Baby!

Dever with more cash on hand

Dear fellow tax hikers, pre-primary campaign finance reports were due yesterday and the news for us wasn't good.

Rick Bryan:  $25,543 cash on hand.  $13,116 debts owed.   $7,000 loans outstanding.

Jonathan Dever:  $26,847 cash on hand.  $0 debts owed.  $0 loans outstanding.

For weeks we were assured by Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan supporters that Rick is the one who raised all the money.  They told us that Dever wasn't even running a real campaign.  But it turns out he is the one with most of the unencumbered cash on hand to spend in the final stretch run. 

We call on all you tax hikers to work hard for our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan in these final 10 days.  Tell the voters about Rick Bryan's 25% Earnings Tax hike, the Sales Taxes he's tried to raise, the $75 million park he's building, the Cincinnati Streetcar he helped fund.  Ricky is our best chance to elect a great tax-and-spend Republican. 

COAST endorses Jonathan Dever

Dear fellow tax hikers, as expected our enemies at COAST have endorsed Jonathan Dever for State Representative.  That's ok.  We'll let Dever get the conservatives.

We encourage you to read their endorsement reposted below, because it explains precisely why our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan is the best candidate for this seat.  We owe it to our tax-and-spend Republicans to support them against conservatives like Dever.  If all of us progressive Republicans vote for Ricky in two weeks, he will win!

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COAST is proud to endorse conservative Jonathan Dever for State Representative in the 28th District GOP Primary.  Dever, a first time candidate, has been a fixture supporting conservative causes and Republican candidates in Hamilton County. 

Dever currently owns two small businesses, and his wife owns a 3rd, that employ 15 people.  Jonathan has proven his conservative credentials in not just his words but his actions, and COAST looks forward to him representing SW Ohio in the State House. 

Dever looks to defeat tax-and-spend Republican Rick Bryan, a Blue Ash Councilman.  Bryan has an extensive and disturbing record of raising taxes and wasting significant taxpayer funds on large, questionable projects.  For example, Bryan is currently building a comically wasteful $75 million park.  This will cost the equivalent of $6200 per Blue Ash resident - more than the Wall Street Bailouts and Obama Stimulus COMBINED! 

Rick Bryan voted for and enthusiastically endorsed a 25% Earnings Tax hike on Blue Ash workers and residents.  He lined up behind David Pepper and Todd Portune to support a massive countywide Sales Tax increase that the voters wisely rejected.  Bryan even said we should have re-elected the incompetent Bob Bedinghaus based on his (disastrous) work on the stadiums. 

Shockingly, in 2012 Bryan used his position as a Blue Ash Councilman to help fund the Cincinnati Streetcar.  Bryan happily obeyed former Mayor Mark Mallory's demand to rescind, then redo the 2007 airport land deal between the two cities in a way that allowed Cincinnati to legally spend the proceeds on their streetcar fiasco.  Bryan sold out the people of Blue Ash and Cincinnati to help fund a streetcar that most 28th District residents want no part of. 

While many elections come down to the lesser of two evils, we are pleased that this race isn't one of them.  Conservative Jonathan Dever is a significantly better choice than Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan and has earned our support. 

Learn more about Jonathan Dever here.

Crystal Faulkner supports Rick Bryan

Dear fellow tax hikers, it's a great day when progressive Republicans like Crystal Faulkner Cooney, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan, and this blog all work together to pursue our common goals of raising taxes and growing government.  A major milestone was achieved when MS. Faulkner endorsed Bryan for State Representative!

It makes perfect sense for Crystal to support our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan.  After all, MS. Faulkner has also supported equally fine candidates such as:

- Chris Seelbach
- Mark Mallory
- PG Sittenfeld
- David Pepper
- Jean Schmidt

We believe Rick will be even better for the progressive movement than these five. 

As conservatives have coalesced behind the conservative candidate, Jonathan Dever, it's more important than ever for us tax-and-spend liberal Republicans to stand together.  We applaud MS. Faulkner for taking some time out of her busy campaign to see the bigger picture. 

We implore you all to vote the progressive slate in this May's primary.  That especially means supporting Crystal Faulkner Cooney and Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan.  Some very important tax hikes and streetcar lines depend on it.

Dever admits he's a conservative

Dear fellow tax hikers, don't you all love it when your opponents make your arguments for you?  Our enemy Jonathan Dever did just that, when he sent a press release acknowledging his conservative views and admitting that our good friend Rick Bryan is the candidate of big government. 

Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan is indeed the candidate of higher taxes, more streetcars, and a $75 million park.  Jonathan Dever is one of the evil conservatives who has even signed a pledge to not raise our taxes.  He must be stopped.

Read the press release for yourselves.  Then get mad.  Dedicate yourself to supporting the big government ballot on May 6th, including our own Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan.

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Today is April 15.  Are Your Tax Dollars Safe with “Tax-Hikin’ Rick Bryan?”

Ronald Reagan famously quipped that, “Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15.”

In honoring the president’s joke, Jonathan Dever, demonstrating that he is the true fiscal conservative in the race, signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge to “oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”

As a small businessman, Jonathan Dever understands the importance of staying within budget and funding priorities first.

Dever said, “I am proud to add my name to the list of candidates and elected officials at both the state and federal level who have pledged to stop the tax and spend policies that hurt the middle class.  I will go to Columbus and fight every day to make sure that we do not spend one penny more than needed.  Government is meant to help folks, not hurt them.”

Jonathan Dever’s opponent in the Ohio House Race has fiscal beliefs that are closer to those of Democrats than his own party.

Since announcing his run for the statehouse, Rick Bryan has campaigned as a fiscal conservative, but his record on Blue Ash City Council reflects a progressive fiscal record, earning him the long-standing moniker “Tax-Hikin’ Rick Bryan.”

On top of his profligate spending for projects like a $75 million public park, Rick Bryan voted for an earnings tax increase of a whopping 25%.

The working class folks and our seniors in the 28^th House District literally cannot afford to send another Progressive tax and spender to Columbus.

“I will work to shrink our State government and return control to the local level.  Our working families deserve to have a candidate that will fight against over taxation and out of control spending.  I call on my opponents to follow suit, and sign the pledge.”

For more information please visit http://www.jonathandever.com

Rick Bryan Tax Day

Dear fellow tax hikers, today is April 15th!  This is the day your taxes are due.  It is our favorite day of the year - and Rick Bryan's too.

We're going to spend our special day honoring the legacy of Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan.  This is a man - and a mustache - who knows what Tax Day is about.

Ricky won our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year because of his neverending dedication to higher taxes and runaway spending.  He raised the Earnings Tax 25%.  Tried to give Hamilton County a huge Sales Tax hike.  Applauded Bob Bedinghaus for his work on the stadiums.  Helped fund the Cincinnati Streetcar.  And Rick is currently building a $75 million park.

We are deeply indebted to Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan for everything he has done to raise taxes and jack up government spending.  Just imagine what he could do with a statewide tax base.  He is exactly the kind of tax-and-spend Republican we are proud to honor on the greatest day of the year.  We wish all of you a Happy Rick Bryan Tax Day!

Rick Bryan's $75 million park

Dear fellow tax hikers, one of the many things we love about Blue Ash Councilman Rick Bryan is his dedication to spending gobs of taxpayer money on huge projects that raises taxes and/or debt for many decades.  For example, Rick provided key support to help fund the Cincinnati Streetcar, and praised former Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus for his excellent work on the stadiums.

And now, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan is leading the way to build a $75 million park in Blue Ash.  That's right - one park, $75 million.

Even we find this cost to be astonishing!  Astonishingly great, of course. 

Blue Ash has approximately 12,000 residents.  This park is costing the equivalent of $6200 per Blue Ash resident.

If our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan gets elected State Representative and embarks on a parks program statewide on this scale, it would cost Ohio $71 Billion.  By comparison, Ohio's entire 2-year General Fund budget for FY2014-2015 is $62 Billion.  That would require one huge tax hike!

And if our country started a parks program on the same scale Rick is doing in Blue Ash, it would add $1.9 Trillion to our National Debt!  Raising taxes, spending an Earth-shattering amount on big projects like stadiums, streetcars, and $75 million parks - that's our Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan.

Rick Bryan stands firm against the disabled

Dear fellow tax hikers, Rick Bryan and his Blue Ash Council Comrades continue their excellent work against disabled children.  They are all-in to keep a girl from her service animal. 

Resisting calls to put an end to the showdown and let a 13 year-old girl keep her miniature service horse, our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan and the rest of Blue Ash government is doubling down.  In the latest court drama, Blue Ash is refusing to compromise, instead seeking to dismiss the discrimination lawsuit against them. 

We have previously urged the courts to dismiss this silly lawsuit.  Blue Ash was right to force this service animal's removal.  Handicapped people need to know their proper place when living in Blue Ash.

We applaud Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan for spending the city's time and money on this important mission.  And we condemn Jonathan Dever for taking the side of a disabled child against the government.  We urge Ricky to keep up the good work.  This is why we need big government.

Misleading flyer attacks Rick Bryan

Dear fellow tax hikers, we condemn the inaccurate flyer circulating around the 28th Ohio House District that seeks to impugn the great record of our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan. 

This offensive flyer stated, "Rick Bryan wants to lower our taxes!"

Baloney!  When has Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan ever wanted to lower our taxes?  Rick has been a very reliable tax-and-spend Republican during his entire 19-year political career.  We will not sit by and allow outsiders to falsely portray Rick as some conservative.

Rick's record of being a big government Republican shall not be challenged:

1.  Rick endorsed and voted to raise Blue Ash's Earnings Tax by 25%.  Blue Ash Council recently announced this tax hike would be made permanent.  After all, their $75 million (and counting) park won't pay for itself. 

2.  Rick teamed up with David Pepper, Todd Portune, and Marc Dann to endorse a huge 15 year, $777 million Sales Tax increase for Hamilton County.  Sadly, this tax hike failed at the ballot box.

3.  Rick strongly supported the re-election of Hamilton County's greatest Commissioner ever, Bob Bedinghaus.  Rick cited Bob's excellent work on the stadiums as a key reason to give him 4 more years.

4.  Rick courageously fought local conservatives by having Blue Ash City Council help fund the Cincinnati Streetcar.  We need more streetcars in Ohio, and Rick is just the guy to get them built.

5.  Voted with a unanimous Blue Ash City Council to endorse the tax increase which more than doubled the Hotel/Motel Tax in Hamilton County.  This tax increase was pushed by Virgil Lovitt, sponsored by Jean Schmidt, and signed into law by Bob Taft - a legendary trio of tax hikers. 

We have a message for you outsiders.  Don't come to Southwest Ohio and spread falsehoods against our tax-and-spend allies.  We will be here to set the record straight every time.